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Twenty-eight deaf and hard of hearing Chinese-speaking public school children in Taiwan were tested on literacy achievement tasks at the end of kindergarten (T1), first grade (T2), and second grade (T3) over 2 years. After nonverbal IQ and hearing threshold were controlled for, the results revealed that early oral vocabulary and print awareness tested in kindergarten were related to word recognition in first grade. Moreover, receptive oral vocabulary (T1) was related to reading achievement in first and second grade. Phoneme (onset-rime) blending (T1) was associated with reading achievement in first grade, but not second grade. While onset-rime blending made more unique contributions to picture-book reading comprehension (T2), oral receptive vocabulary contributed uniquely to reading comprehension in T3 more than onset-rime blending. The time (in minutes) per week parents spent in shared book reading with their child was moderately related to reading comprehension at T3.

In Part I, we underscore the issues surrounding young deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) learners of literacy in Taiwan who use sign to support their learning of Chinese literacy. We also described the linguistic features of Chinese writing and the visual codes used by DHH children. In Part II, we describe the reading and writing practices used with Taiwanese DHH children. Teachers reported they taught Chinese literacy bridging meaning to print using pictures, speech, sign, visual and visual/gestural codes. Theoretical and practical implications of our descriptive study were given.

We describe the literacy issues facing young deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) learners in Taiwan who are learning both a logographic and an alphabetic script. We describe the contextual factors that surround their reading and writing processes such as island demographics, reading achievement levels, and background language learning variables including deaf culture. We then describe and provide graphic illustrations and examples of the linguistic features of the written languages that DHH children are learning (Chinese and English) as well as the sign codes (Signed Chinese, Zhuyin finger alphabet, character signs, palm writing, and air writing) and the Zhuyin Fuhao written visual symbols. We suggest that contextual, cultural and linguistic factors need to be considered in the understanding of how DHH children learn to read and write as well as how they use their sign language and sign codes to build Chinese and English literacy skills.

In this, the first article in the "American Annals of the Deaf" special issue on English reading development for individuals who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing, the coeditors aim to promote interdisciplinary dialogue among researchers regarding literacy research with d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) students by setting the tone for an open and inclusive forum. Researchers from various disciplines are invited to discuss the similarities and differences between students who are d/Dhh and their typically developing hearing peers in terms of aspects such as reading process, reading development, and reading assessment. Challenges related to the acquisition of language and literacy by d/Dhh students are described. The article highlights the purpose of the special issue, which is to explore what works where, when, why, and for whom.

Describes a model home literacy program at the Indiana School for the Deaf. Reviews six case studies of young deaf children in order to explore and describe sign language behaviors which help deaf children grasp reading skills. Claims that sign language and finger spelling can be closely related to early reading and writing at home. (MOK)

[Development of the National Languages Act [of Taiwan]. (2019, January 9). Ministry of Culture. ] incorporating Taiwanese Sign Language (TSL) evolved from Taiwan's historical linguistic ecology and intertwined with the linguistic ecology of Taiwan's Deaf community. Utilising a qualitative document analysis incorporating a language planning and policy framework [Cooper, R. L. (1989). Language planning and social change. Cambridge University Press; Reagan, T. (2022). Language planning and language policies for sign languages: an emerging civil rights movement. Sociolinguistica, 36(1-2), 169–182], we analyze how this law fits into Taiwan's multicultural milieu. Specifically, we analyze the transmission, revival, and development of TSL by legislating status, acquisition, corpus, and prestige planning for teaching TSL to hearing learners. Secondly, gaps are identified, such as establishing early TSL access to the birth to age five deaf learners and their caregivers, promoting Chinese literacy with TSL strategies, and hiring native Deaf signing teachers. Limitations and future directions for research and practice are then outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discuss Pinyin, a phonetic system based on the Latin alphabet, as an auxiliary pedagogical tool in literacy instruction in China. They provide a brief history of Pinyin and its educational purposes, then describe how it is used in its spoken/auditory, written, and signed forms by teachers with students who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). Classroom transcripts demonstrate how Pinyin is taught via visual and tactile/kinesthetic tools such as pictures, sign language, and the Chinese Manual Alphabet for purposes of making the phonological information visible to DHH learners. The authors further discuss the different functions of Pinyin for students who are hearing versus students who are DHH and present new insights that may lead to future empirical studies on Pinyin use in early literacy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The national policy in deaf education in Mainland China primarily focuses on oral/aural instruction and hearing rehabilitation. The curriculum in primary grades is specifically structured on speech and hearing skills for language development. But there is little evidence that documents what early literacy instruction looks like or how teachers conduct the teaching of reading and writing in classrooms with Chinese deaf children. By analyzing videotapes from the first and second grade classrooms, we describe how reading and writing are taught to deaf children in China. The key findings are that the primary grade literacy instruction (1) shares features of Gradual Release of Responsibility model with a focus on speech and hearing skills; (2) uses multimodal strategies and pedagogical tools such as lip-reading, Pinyin phonetic symbols, Pinyin Finger Spelling, Chinese Sign Language (CSL), and Signed Chinese (SC). Moreover, the curriculum reflects low expectations for deaf students as it lacks the academic content provided to their hearing peers. We conclude with implications for literacy instruction in deaf education, and suggest a future research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IN THIS, the first article in the American Annals of the Deaf special issue on English reading development for individuals who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing, the coeditors aim to promote interdisciplinary dialogue among researchers regarding literacy research with d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) students by setting the tone for an open and inclusive forum. Researchers from various disciplines are invited to discuss the similarities and differences between students who are d/Dhh and their typically developing hearing peers in terms of aspects such as reading process, reading development, and reading assessment. Challenges related to the acquisition of language and literacy by d/Dhh students are described. The article highlights the purpose of the special issue, which is to explore what works where, when, why, and for whom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the literacy issues facing young deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) learners in Taiwan who are learning both a logographic and an alphabetic script. We describe the contextual factors that surround their reading and writing processes such as island demographics, reading achievement levels, and background language learning variables including deaf culture. We then describe and provide graphic illustrations and examples of the linguistic features of the written languages that DHH children are learning (Chinese and English) as well as the sign codes (Signed Chinese, Zhuyin finger alphabet, character signs, palm writing, and air writing) and the Zhuyin Fuhao written visual symbols. We suggest that contextual, cultural and linguistic factors need to be considered in the understanding of how DHH children learn to read and write as well as how they use their sign language and sign codes to build Chinese and English literacy skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deafblind readers are heterogeneous in reading skill acquisition. This qualitative study uses in-depth interviews and protocol analyses and queries the three deafblind adult participants in describing their metacomprehension, metacognitive and metalinguistic strategies used when reading different types of text. Using retrospective analysis, the three adults describe and reflect on how they learned language and how they learned to read as children. The participants also describe the technology that assists them in reading print. Data suggest that deafblind adults use a variety of auditory, visual and tactilekinesthetic strategies (i.e. braille, large print, and raised print) in decoding English. Some also use ASL, Signed English and tactile ASL and tactile Signed English. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]